The total expenses of the project exceeded Tk3.27 crore
Renovation work on the historic Rajshahi Public Library is suspended for three years due to budget constraints and several architectural changes. Rebuilding began five years ago, but very little progress has been made so far, with over 3.27 million Tk spent. Photo: TBS
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Renovation work on the historic Rajshahi Public Library is suspended for three years due to budget constraints and several architectural changes. Rebuilding began five years ago, but very little progress has been made so far, with over 3.27 million Tk spent. Photo: TBS
Renovation work on the historic Rajshahi Public Library has stalled as construction has been suspended for three years due to budget constraints and multiple changes in its design.
Rebuilding the centuries-old library began five years ago, but with a spending bill exceeding Tk 27 crore very little progress has been made so far.
It is currently uncertain when construction work will resume.
However, Rajshahi City Corporation (RCC) officials said work will resume in a month. A new design for the library building is being prepared with a new award.
According to RCC sources, the project to construct a new five-story building, including a 300-seat auditorium, to replace the old library in the city’s Miapara was started in 2017. The project also included the creation of a replica of the old building as a memorial to the younger generation.
The Government of India donated Tk2.57 crore to the project while the Municipal Corporation provided Tk70 lakh. The total expenses of the project exceeded Tk3.27 crore.
Despite opposition from various sectors of society, the 138-year-old building was finally demolished in 2018 and reconstruction began with hopes of completion by 2019. However, it seems that the authorities underestimated the task or budget for the matter.
Nur Islam Tushar, chief engineer at Rajshahi City Corporation, told The Business Standard: “Initially in the design there was no plan for deep foundations or piling. The main complex was supposed to be built only on concrete pillars, later it turned out that the land was in poor condition and a piling was required for the foundation. All funds provided went towards the piling work.”
“However, the city society has managed to channel Tk 2.78 crore from the fund of Tk 3,000 crore earmarked for various ongoing development projects in the city. A new draft is being prepared and we will be running new tenders soon. Construction will resume within a month,” he added.
However, the official declined to comment on whether the new design will include a five-story building and an auditorium, as previously suggested.
Towhid Al Masud Rony, owner of construction company Rithin Enterprise, claimed that the building’s original design was changed right after work began. According to the tender, a normal building should be erected, later the design was changed to a high-rise building.
“We had to carry out piling work, which was initially not agreed upon and has used up all the funding from my contract. The first phase of work has been completed and RCC still owes my company Tk60 lakh. Some other companies will receive the tender for the second conversion phase, we are no longer involved in that.”
Tajul Islam, general secretary of Rajshahi Public Library, said: “The construction company first dug 2.40 m deep and found that the soil conditions were not sustainable for a high-rise building. Then they decided on deep foundations or piles. 42 piles were installed. After filling the ground, pillars were erected on the piles. All of this work took a lot of money to complete.”
According to historical documents, the library was built in 1884 by Rai Bahadur Kedarnath Lahiri, the zamindar of Kashimpur, on the land donated by Raja Pramadanath Roy, the zamindar of Dighapatia.
However, some sources show that the library was originally founded by Raja Anandanath, a descendant of Rani Bhabani in 1850, which was later renovated by the later patrons. The library was mentioned in WW Hunter’s book Statistical Accounts published in 1876.
According to Hunter, in 1871-72 the library had only 3,247 books and six periodicals. At the time there were only nine readers in the library, including six British. After the death of Raja Anandanath Roy, his son Raja Chandra Roy donated £20 annually to the library. It was once located in the Kashimpur House of the old bus station and was later moved to Miyapara.
Currently, the library receives an allocation of Tk 60,000 per year from the Jatiya Granthakendra (National Book Center), including Tk 30,000 books and the remaining half in cash.
Most of the books in the library are rare, including the first edition of Shakespeare’s Scottish plays, the first edition of some works by Michael Madhusudan Dutt, British period periodicals, etc. There are currently about 36,000 books in this library.
Many historical figures including Mahatma Gandhi, Netaji Subhaschandra Bose visited the library.
However, during the partition of India in 1947 and the Bangladesh Liberation War in 1971, countless important books from the library were lost.
Tasikul Islam, vice president of the library, said: “Many rare books in the library were destroyed, including several books signed by Rabindranath Tagore. After the demolition of the old building, the books were removed and stored in a large hall on the third floor of the Rajshahi Association.”
